Second Time Around Watch Restoration Thread
Discussion
Hi everyone,
I thought I'd finally introduce myself after spending quite a bit of time reading through the Watches section.
Over the past year I've become really interested in the mechanical side of watches and have been teaching myself how they work, from basic disassembly through to servicing and restoration. It's been a steep learning curve, but one I've genuinely enjoyed. Along the way I've completed some training, but most of what I've learned has come from spending countless hours at the bench, making mistakes and figuring out how to put things right.
My latest project was an old Oris that turned out to be far more challenging than I expected. What I thought would be a straightforward service quickly became a lesson in fault finding, sourcing parts and understanding how the movement was designed. There were definitely a few moments where I questioned whether I'd ever get it running again!
One of the things that's surprised me most is just how well engineered these older movements are. The more I work on them, the more respect I have for the people who designed and serviced them decades ago.
I'm still learning every day and have found the process incredibly rewarding, even when things don't go to plan.
I'd be interested to hear from others on here. Has anyone else taught themselves watchmaking or restoration? What was the first movement or watch you worked on? Are there any vintage calibres you'd recommend for someone looking to continue learning?
I'm looking forward to hearing about other people's projects and hopefully picking up a few tips along the way.
James
I thought I'd finally introduce myself after spending quite a bit of time reading through the Watches section.
Over the past year I've become really interested in the mechanical side of watches and have been teaching myself how they work, from basic disassembly through to servicing and restoration. It's been a steep learning curve, but one I've genuinely enjoyed. Along the way I've completed some training, but most of what I've learned has come from spending countless hours at the bench, making mistakes and figuring out how to put things right.
My latest project was an old Oris that turned out to be far more challenging than I expected. What I thought would be a straightforward service quickly became a lesson in fault finding, sourcing parts and understanding how the movement was designed. There were definitely a few moments where I questioned whether I'd ever get it running again!
One of the things that's surprised me most is just how well engineered these older movements are. The more I work on them, the more respect I have for the people who designed and serviced them decades ago.
I'm still learning every day and have found the process incredibly rewarding, even when things don't go to plan.
I'd be interested to hear from others on here. Has anyone else taught themselves watchmaking or restoration? What was the first movement or watch you worked on? Are there any vintage calibres you'd recommend for someone looking to continue learning?
I'm looking forward to hearing about other people's projects and hopefully picking up a few tips along the way.
James
SecondTimeAround said:
Hi everyone,
I thought I'd finally introduce myself after spending quite a bit of time reading through the Watches section.
Over the past year I've become really interested in the mechanical side of watches and have been teaching myself how they work, from basic disassembly through to servicing and restoration. It's been a steep learning curve, but one I've genuinely enjoyed. Along the way I've completed some training, but most of what I've learned has come from spending countless hours at the bench, making mistakes and figuring out how to put things right.
My latest project was an old Oris that turned out to be far more challenging than I expected. What I thought would be a straightforward service quickly became a lesson in fault finding, sourcing parts and understanding how the movement was designed. There were definitely a few moments where I questioned whether I'd ever get it running again!
One of the things that's surprised me most is just how well engineered these older movements are. The more I work on them, the more respect I have for the people who designed and serviced them decades ago.
I'm still learning every day and have found the process incredibly rewarding, even when things don't go to plan.
I'd be interested to hear from others on here. Has anyone else taught themselves watchmaking or restoration? What was the first movement or watch you worked on? Are there any vintage calibres you'd recommend for someone looking to continue learning?
I'm looking forward to hearing about other people's projects and hopefully picking up a few tips along the way.
James
Hi James great post . I thought I'd finally introduce myself after spending quite a bit of time reading through the Watches section.
Over the past year I've become really interested in the mechanical side of watches and have been teaching myself how they work, from basic disassembly through to servicing and restoration. It's been a steep learning curve, but one I've genuinely enjoyed. Along the way I've completed some training, but most of what I've learned has come from spending countless hours at the bench, making mistakes and figuring out how to put things right.
My latest project was an old Oris that turned out to be far more challenging than I expected. What I thought would be a straightforward service quickly became a lesson in fault finding, sourcing parts and understanding how the movement was designed. There were definitely a few moments where I questioned whether I'd ever get it running again!
One of the things that's surprised me most is just how well engineered these older movements are. The more I work on them, the more respect I have for the people who designed and serviced them decades ago.
I'm still learning every day and have found the process incredibly rewarding, even when things don't go to plan.
I'd be interested to hear from others on here. Has anyone else taught themselves watchmaking or restoration? What was the first movement or watch you worked on? Are there any vintage calibres you'd recommend for someone looking to continue learning?
I'm looking forward to hearing about other people's projects and hopefully picking up a few tips along the way.
James
I've been interested in knowing how watches are serviced and fixed but I don't have the technical ability or the know how to even attempt having a try .
I'd be very interested in seeing any previous work you've done, am I able to see this on social media or any other method?
Hey,
Thank you so much for your comment!
There is no challenge we will not take on so please get in touch!
We absolutely do, we are on all the usual socials and run a YT channel of the restorations SecondTimeAround.
[pic] https://ibb.co/7mSTSYQ [pic]
[pic] https://ibb.co/fd7pVBdP [pic]
[pic] https://ibb.co/wNzk8JBY [pic]
Thank you so much for your comment!
There is no challenge we will not take on so please get in touch!
We absolutely do, we are on all the usual socials and run a YT channel of the restorations SecondTimeAround.
[pic] https://ibb.co/7mSTSYQ [pic]
[pic] https://ibb.co/fd7pVBdP [pic]
[pic] https://ibb.co/wNzk8JBY [pic]
I've dabbled with watches over the years, but only for my own collection.
My first experience was when a friend of my father imported a job lot of cheap watches to resell about 55 years ago.
A fair number of them failed, and I was tasked with swapping parts to get some of them working.
That sparked my interest, and I dabbled with clocks, teaching myself from library books.
A voluntary redundancy package from my IT job aged 40 allowed me to buy some decent tools (HR lady's father was a watchmaker, so she pushed through the purchase as a retraining grant).
I started advertising for customers, and slowly built my small business, going almost full time aged 53 after another voluntary redundancy package.
I settled on clocks because I could make or adapt most of the parts myself. Worst case, there a few specialists who can make parts for me.
Finding parts for older watches can be tricky, which put me off.
In some parts of the country, there's nobody doing watch or clock repairs now. Plenty of work, no-one to do it.
I'm now running lengthy waiting lists for some types of clock, and desperately trying to find a gifted amateur/hobbyist to pass customers on to.
My first experience was when a friend of my father imported a job lot of cheap watches to resell about 55 years ago.
A fair number of them failed, and I was tasked with swapping parts to get some of them working.
That sparked my interest, and I dabbled with clocks, teaching myself from library books.
A voluntary redundancy package from my IT job aged 40 allowed me to buy some decent tools (HR lady's father was a watchmaker, so she pushed through the purchase as a retraining grant).
I started advertising for customers, and slowly built my small business, going almost full time aged 53 after another voluntary redundancy package.
I settled on clocks because I could make or adapt most of the parts myself. Worst case, there a few specialists who can make parts for me.
Finding parts for older watches can be tricky, which put me off.
In some parts of the country, there's nobody doing watch or clock repairs now. Plenty of work, no-one to do it.
I'm now running lengthy waiting lists for some types of clock, and desperately trying to find a gifted amateur/hobbyist to pass customers on to.
clockworks said:
I've dabbled with watches over the years, but only for my own collection.
My first experience was when a friend of my father imported a job lot of cheap watches to resell about 55 years ago.
A fair number of them failed, and I was tasked with swapping parts to get some of them working.
That sparked my interest, and I dabbled with clocks, teaching myself from library books.
A voluntary redundancy package from my IT job aged 40 allowed me to buy some decent tools (HR lady's father was a watchmaker, so she pushed through the purchase as a retraining grant).
I started advertising for customers, and slowly built my small business, going almost full time aged 53 after another voluntary redundancy package.
I settled on clocks because I could make or adapt most of the parts myself. Worst case, there a few specialists who can make parts for me.
Finding parts for older watches can be tricky, which put me off.
In some parts of the country, there's nobody doing watch or clock repairs now. Plenty of work, no-one to do it.
I'm now running lengthy waiting lists for some types of clock, and desperately trying to find a gifted amateur/hobbyist to pass customers on to.
Thank you very much for taking the time to write such a detailed reply, I really appreciate it.My first experience was when a friend of my father imported a job lot of cheap watches to resell about 55 years ago.
A fair number of them failed, and I was tasked with swapping parts to get some of them working.
That sparked my interest, and I dabbled with clocks, teaching myself from library books.
A voluntary redundancy package from my IT job aged 40 allowed me to buy some decent tools (HR lady's father was a watchmaker, so she pushed through the purchase as a retraining grant).
I started advertising for customers, and slowly built my small business, going almost full time aged 53 after another voluntary redundancy package.
I settled on clocks because I could make or adapt most of the parts myself. Worst case, there a few specialists who can make parts for me.
Finding parts for older watches can be tricky, which put me off.
In some parts of the country, there's nobody doing watch or clock repairs now. Plenty of work, no-one to do it.
I'm now running lengthy waiting lists for some types of clock, and desperately trying to find a gifted amateur/hobbyist to pass customers on to.
It’s fascinating to hear how you got into the trade. Starting out by swapping parts from job lots and teaching yourself from library books is a world away from the resources we have available today, and it’s clear you’ve built up an incredible amount of experience over the years.
I completely understand what you mean about parts availability. That’s probably been one of the biggest challenges I’ve encountered so far with vintage watches, but I also think it’s one of the things that makes restoring them so rewarding when you finally solve the problem.
I also found your comment about there being plenty of work, but not enough people to do it, really encouraging. My aim is simply to keep learning, take on increasingly challenging projects and hopefully become good enough one day to help keep some of these wonderful old watches going.
Thank you again for sharing your story and advice. I hope to keep learning from people with your experience.
SecondTimeAround said:
Thank you very much for taking the time to write such a detailed reply, I really appreciate it.
It s fascinating to hear how you got into the trade. Starting out by swapping parts from job lots and teaching yourself from library books is a world away from the resources we have available today, and it s clear you ve built up an incredible amount of experience over the years.
I completely understand what you mean about parts availability. That s probably been one of the biggest challenges I ve encountered so far with vintage watches, but I also think it s one of the things that makes restoring them so rewarding when you finally solve the problem.
I also found your comment about there being plenty of work, but not enough people to do it, really encouraging. My aim is simply to keep learning, take on increasingly challenging projects and hopefully become good enough one day to help keep some of these wonderful old watches going.
Thank you again for sharing your story and advice. I hope to keep learning from people with your experience.
There's loads more resources available now, but that is both good and bad.It s fascinating to hear how you got into the trade. Starting out by swapping parts from job lots and teaching yourself from library books is a world away from the resources we have available today, and it s clear you ve built up an incredible amount of experience over the years.
I completely understand what you mean about parts availability. That s probably been one of the biggest challenges I ve encountered so far with vintage watches, but I also think it s one of the things that makes restoring them so rewarding when you finally solve the problem.
I also found your comment about there being plenty of work, but not enough people to do it, really encouraging. My aim is simply to keep learning, take on increasingly challenging projects and hopefully become good enough one day to help keep some of these wonderful old watches going.
Thank you again for sharing your story and advice. I hope to keep learning from people with your experience.
Back in the day, books about watch and clock repairing were written by people who actually knew what they were doing. There was something for everyone, from the truly practical stuff for people just starting out with a few basic tools, through how to do it "properly" in a fully-equipped workshop, to the pure theory of designing from scratch.
You knew who the target audience was, because the author told you clearly.
There is a lot of good stuff out there on video, but there's also a lot of very bad info, bodgery, etc.
Even worse with the advent of AI, much of it being complete nonsense.
Many colleges used to run courses. Most of them seem to have stopped.
How many repairers still take on and train apprentices now?
When I first moved to West Cornwall 30 years ago, every town had a watch or clock shop, with an in-house workshop.
These have slowly closed over the years, being replaced by a few guys with Home workshops (like me).
Most of those have gone now too.
The trade is now down to just me and one other guy 20 miles away. He won't take on anything made in the 20th century, and has stopped taking on new work until he clears the backlog - his shop might re-open next year.
Even worse for watch repairs - I can't find anyone in my area.
I'm getting swamped with requests to repair longcase (grandfather) clocks. Enough on the waiting list for maybe 2 years. I had 4 longcase enquiries just in the last week, as well as 3 wall clocks that I've taken in because I don't yet have a waiting list for those.
That's a big change from even 5 years ago, when I was scrabbling for enough work.
It seems to be very regional though, with some guys seemingly short of work.
If you do good work, with a low return rate, at a fair price, it's a job for life.
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